Mary Anne Stedman Howell December 31, 1919 - June 5, 2017 a Celebration of the Life of Mary Anne Stedman Howell Friday, June 9, 2017 11:00 A.M
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IN CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE OF Mary Anne Stedman Howell December 31, 1919 - June 5, 2017 A Celebration of the Life of Mary Anne Stedman Howell Friday, June 9, 2017 11:00 a.m. St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Beaumont, Texas Organ Prelude “Blessed Are Ye Faithful Souls” Brahms Processional Hymn 680 “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” St. Anne Solemn Anthems (please stand) I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though this body be destroyed, yet shall I see God; whom I shall see for myself and mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger. For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For if we live, we live unto the Lord; and if we die, we die unto the Lord. Whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord; even so saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labors. The Celebrant says the following Collect, first saying The Lord be with you. People And with thy spirit. Celebrant Let us pray. 1 O God, whose mercies cannot be numbered: Accept our prayers on behalf of thy servant Mary Anne, and grant her an entrance into the land of light and joy, in the fellowship of thy saints; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. The people may be seated. A Reading from the Book of Isaiah [61:1-3] The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion – to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, to display his glory. Reader The Word of the Lord. People Thanks be to God. Psalm 90 (read in unison) Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to another. Before the mountains were brought forth, or the land and the earth were born, from age to age you are God. You turn us back to the dust and say, “Go back, O child of earth.” For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past and like a watch in the night. You sweep us away like a dream; we fade away suddenly like the grass. In the morning it is green and flourishes; in the evening it is dried up and withered. For we consume away in your displeasure; we are afraid because of your wrathful indignation. 2 Our iniquities you have set before you, and our secret sins in the light of your countenance. When you are angry, all our days are gone; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. The span of our life is seventy years, perhaps in strength even eighty; yet the sum of them is but labor and sorrow, for they pass away quickly and we are gone. Who regards the power of your wrath? who rightly fears your indignation? So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. A Reading from the Book of Revelations (7:9-17) I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, singing, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “Sir, you are the one that knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Reader The Word of the Lord. People Thanks be to God. Hymn 470 (sts. 1,2) “There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy” Beecher 3 The Holy Gospel: St. John (14:1-6) Celebrant The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John. People Glory be to thee, O Lord. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.” Thomas saith unto him, “Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?” Jesus saith unto him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Following the Gospel reading Celebrant The Gospel of the Lord. People Praise be to thee, O Christ. The Homily The Reverend A. Dean Calcote The Apostles’ Creed (please stand) I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. The Prayers The People, either seated or kneeling, respond to every petition with Amen. The leader says In peace, let us pray to the Lord. 4 Almighty God, who hast knit together thine elect in one communion and fellowship, in the mystical body of thy Son Christ our Lord: Grant, we beseech thee, to thy whole Church in paradise and on earth, thy light and thy peace. Amen Grant that all who have been baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection may die to sin and rise to newness of life, and that through the grave and gate of death we may pass with him to our joyful resurrection. Amen Grant to us who are still in our pilgrimage, and who walk as yet by faith, that thy Holy Spirit may lead us in holiness and righteousness all our days. Amen Grant to thy faithful people pardon and peace, that we may be cleansed from all our sins, and serve thee with a quiet mind. Amen Grant to all who mourn a sure confidence in thy fatherly care, that, casting all their grief on thee, they may know the consolation of thy love. Amen Give courage and faith to those who are bereaved, that they may have strength to meet the days ahead in the comfort of a reasonable and holy hope, in the joyful expectation of eternal life with those they love. Amen Help us, we pray, in the midst of things we cannot understand, to believe and trust in the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, and the resurrection to life everlasting. Amen Grant us grace to entrust Mary Anne to thy never-failing love; receive her into the arms of thy mercy, and remember her according to the favor which thou bearest unto thy people. Amen Grant that, increasing in knowledge and love of thee, she may go from strength to strength in the life of perfect service in thy heavenly kingdom. Amen Grant us, with all who have died in the hope of the resurrection, to have our consummation and bliss in thy eternal and everlasting glory, 5 and, with blessed Mark, and all thy saints, to receive the crown of life which thou dost promise to all who share in the victory of thy Son Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.